Disclosed herein are organic phase change carriers, phase change inks and methods for making same. More specifically, disclosed herein are organic phase change carriers and phase change inks including nanoparticles which can be used in direct and indirect printing processes. In one embodiment, the phase change inks are of the low energy type. The organic phase change carriers (1) comprise (A) a colloidal dispersion of nanoparticles, the organic phase change carrier exhibiting a substantially uniform distribution of said nanoparticles therewithin, with a substantially reduced aggregation of the nanoparticles distributed therewith. The organic phase change carrier also includes (B) at least one curable monomer, and (C) a phase change inducing agent and (D) an initiator. The phase change inducing agent can be at least one of (a) a gellant or (b) a solid alcohol compound. An embodiment of this disclosure is directed to a phase change ink which comprises the above-described organic phase change carrier (1) and (2) a colorant.
Another embodiment is directed to a method which comprises (a) incorporating into an ink jet printing apparatus the above-described phase change ink composition (b) melting the ink; (c) causing droplets of the melted ink to be ejected in an imagewise pattern onto an intermediate transfer member; and (d) transferring the ink in the imagewise pattern from the intermediate transfer member to a final recording substrate.
In general, phase change inks (sometimes referred to as “hot melt inks”) are in the solid phase at ambient temperature, but exist in the liquid phase at the elevated operating temperature of an ink jet printing device. At the jet operating temperature, droplets of liquid ink are ejected from the printing device and, when the ink droplets contact the surface of the recording substrate, either directly or via an intermediate heated transfer belt or drum, they quickly solidify to form a predetermined pattern of solidified ink drops. Phase change inks have also been used in other printing technologies, such as gravure printing, as disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,496,879 and German Patent Publications DE 4205636AL and DE 4205713AL, the disclosures of each of which are totally incorporated herein by reference.
Phase change inks for color printing typically comprise a phase change organic phase change carrier composition which is combined with a phase change ink compatible colorant. In a specific embodiment, a series of colored phase change inks can be formed by combining organic phase change carrier compositions with compatible subtractive primary colorants. The subtractive primary colored phase change inks can comprise four component dyes, namely, cyan, magenta, yellow and black, although the inks are not limited to these four colors. These subtractive primary colored inks can be formed by using a single dye or a mixture of dyes. For example, magenta can be obtained by using a mixture of Solvent Red Dyes or a composite black can be obtained by mixing several dyes. U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,560, U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,761, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,372,852, the disclosures of each of which are totally incorporated herein by reference, teach that the subtractive primary colorants employed can comprise dyes from the classes of Color Index (commercially available from C.I.) Solvent Dyes, Disperse Dyes, modified Acid and Direct Dyes, and Basic Dyes. The colorants can also include pigments, as disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,221,335, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference. U.S. Pat. No. 5,621,022, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses the use of a specific class of polymeric dyes in phase change ink compositions.
Phase change inks have also been used for applications such as postal marking, industrial marking, and labeling.
Phase change inks are desirable for ink jet printers because they remain in a solid phase at room temperature during shipping, long term storage, and the like. In addition, the problems associated with nozzle clogging as a result of ink evaporation with liquid ink jet inks are largely eliminated, thereby improving the reliability of the ink jet printing. Further, in phase change ink jet printers wherein the ink droplets are applied directly onto the final recording substrate (for example, paper, transparency material, and the like), the droplets solidify immediately upon contact with the substrate, so that migration of ink along the printing medium is prevented and dot quality is improved.
Compositions suitable for use as phase change organic phase change carrier compositions are known and are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,989,052, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,783,657, U.S. Pat. No. 5,998,570 and WO 98/17704, (Pavlin et al), the disclosures of each of which are totally incorporated herein by reference, disclose a low molecular weight, ester-terminated polyamide that may be blended with a liquid hydrocarbon to form a transparent composition having gel consistency. The ester-terminated polyamide is prepared by reacting “x” equivalents of dicarboxylic acid wherein at least 50% of those equivalents are from polymerized fatty acid, “y” equivalents of diamine such as ethylene diamine, and “z” equivalents of monoalcohol having at least 4 carbon atoms. The stoichiometry of the reaction mixture is such that 0.9≦{x/(y+z)}≦1.1 and 0.1≦{z/(y+z)}≦0.7. The reactants are heated until they reach reaction equilibrium.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,111,055 (Berger, et al), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses an ester terminated dimer acid-based polyamide which is blended with a solvent to form a gel. The solvent may be flammable, and a wick may be added to the resulting gel to form a candle. The said ester terminated dimeracid-based polyamide is prepared by thermal condensation of a diacid, a diamine and a monoalcohol.
U.S. application Ser. No. 11/289,521 (filed Nov. 30, 2005), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses a composition, comprising: (a) curable monomer; (b) photoinitiator that initiates polymerization of said curable monomer; and (c) phase change agent that provides the composition with an increase in viscosity. The viscosity increase is of at least about four orders of magnitude, from a first temperature of from about 50° C. to 130° C., to a second temperature of from about 0° C. to 70° C., the second temperature being at least about 10° C. below the first temperature.
U.S. application Ser. No. 11/290,098 (filed Nov. 30, 2005), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses a phase change ink comprising a colorant, an initiator, and a phase change ink carrier, said carrier comprising (A) a compound which is the reaction product of a mixture comprising (1) an isocyanate; and (2) a component comprising (a) an alcohol having at least one ethylenic unsaturation; (b) an amine having at least one ethylenic unsaturation; (c) an acid having at least one ethylenic unsaturation; or (d) mixtures thereof, and (B) a phase change inducing component, said phase change inducing component containing at least one hydroxyl group, said phase change inducing component having a melting point of about 40° C. or higher.
U.S. application Ser. No. 11/291,540 (filed Nov. 30, 2005), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses ink carriers and phase change inks including nanoparticles which can be used in direct and indirect printing processes. The ink carrier can also include at least one of (B) a low melting wax, and (C) a gelling agent.
U.S. application Ser. No. 11/289,473 (filed Nov. 30, 2005), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, which is directed to a radiation curable phase change ink which can be used in piezoelectric ink jet devices including an ink vehicle that includes at least one curable epoxy-polyamide gellant, and at least one colorant. The use of the gellant enables the ink to form a gel state having a viscosity of at least 103 mPa·s at very low temperatures of from about 25° C. to about 100° C.
U.S. application Ser. No. 11/290,122 (filed Nov. 30, 2005), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses a compound of the formula
wherein R1 and R1′ each, independently of the other, is an alkyl group having at least one ethylenic unsaturation, an arylalkyl group having at least one ethylenic unsaturation, or an alkylaryl group having at least one ethylenic unsaturation, R2, R2′, and R3 each, independently of the others, are alkylene groups, arylene groups, arylalkylene groups, or alkylarylene groups, and n is an integer representing the number of repeat amide units and is at least 1.
U.S. application Ser. No. 11/290,207 (filed Nov. 30, 2005), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses a compound of the formula
wherein R1 is an alkylene, arylene, arylalkylene, or alkylarylene group, R2 and R2′ each, independently of the other, are alkylene, arylene, arylalkylene, or alkylarylene groups, R3 and R3′ each, independently of the other, are either (a) photoinitiating groups, or (b) groups which are alkyl, aryl, arylalkyl, or alkylaryl groups, provided that at least one of R3 and R3′ is a photoinitiating group, and X and X′ each, independently of the other, is an oxygen atom or a group of the formula —NR4—, wherein R4 is a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, an aryl group, an arylalkyl group, or an alkylaryl group.
Many phase change inks currently being used in solid ink jet piezoelectric printers employ high jetting temperatures (about 140° C.) and long warm up times. The images currently produced by these inks can also, in some instances, exhibit poor scratch resistance and image permanence.
Therefore, a need remains for improved phase change inks, and more specifically, low energy solid inks which permit phase change ink jet printers to perform at more moderate operating conditions than with conventional phase change inks. For example, a need exists for phase change inks which can be jetted at temperatures lower than conventional jetting temperatures as described below. Also, there is a need for phase change inks having improved transfuse latitude and low stand-by energy. In addition, a need remains for phase change inks which exhibit robustness, that is resistance to scratch, crease and abrasion with substantially no smear. There is also a need for phase change inks that can exhibit at least some of the above advantages with reduced energy requirements while printing. Additionally, a need remains for phase change inks that print successfully on paper and transparency stock. Furthermore, there is a need for phase change inks that generate prints with good performance in automatic document feeders.